Shoe.



No. 799,583. PATENTBD SEPT. 12, 1905.

H. c. WELGH.

$1103. APPLIUATION PILED MAB. 31, 1905- M'Zrzeasear #62 I UNITED sTATEs HEZEKIAH C. VVELCH, OF HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1905.

Application filed March 31, 1905. Serial No. 253,094.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, HEZEKIAH O. WELCH, of Haverhill, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Im rovement in Shoes, of which the following escription, in

connection with the accom anying drawings, is a specification, like c aracters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to certain improvements in that class of shoes known as highcut shoes, and has for its object to provide a high-cut shoe which is adapted to be placed upon the foot and secured with the ease and facility of a low-cut shoe and to have the appearance of such a shoe and which is adapted to fit the ankle of the wearer closely above the point at which it is secured by fastenings. I accomplish, this object by means shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side and Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a shoe made according to my intion, showing the front closed. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a portion of the shoe, showing the same unfastened; and Fig. 4 illustrates a removable form of connection between the goring and quarter.

The shoe illustrated comprises quarterpieces a b, which are secured to and extend from the vamp c upwardly to the top of the shoe. The front edge of the outer quarterpiece a extends from a point adjacent the middle of the vamp upwardly adjacent the middle line of the shoe and then rearwardly and nearly horizontally, forming an inner flap a, and then upwardly from the rear end of the said horizontal edge portion to the top of the shoe, forming an edge portion o The inner quarter-piece b is provided with an outer flap 1), which is connected at its lower end to the vamp and is adapted to extend over the inner flap a to the upper end of the instep portion of the shoe and to be fastened thereto by buttons (Z in tne manner of an ordinary low-cut button-shoe. The upper edge of the out-flap extends approximately horizontally about the shoe and then upwardly to the top, forming the edge portion 6 which corresponds in configuration to the edge portion a and is the same distance'from the middle line of the shoe as the latter. An elastic goring e is connected at opposite edges to the edge portions (1 and b the lower end portion of said goring extending below the upper edge of the flap b, so that when the latter is secured in place it will overlap the lower end of the goring, and the opening between the overlapping flaps and the lower end of the goririg will be completely closed by the outer is indicated in the drawings, the edge of the goring is fastened to the inner quarter 1) from the upper edge of the flap b to the lower end of the goring, and the upwardlyextending ed e portion a of the outer quarter-piece 8,115 the goring are of the same length, the goring and said edge portion a being secured throughout their entire lengths, and as the lengths of the opposite side edges of the goring are equal the lower end portion of the goring will be held firmly in place be neath the flap 6.

In placing the shoe upon the foot the flap l) is simply unfastened, and the shoe is drawn on in any convenient manner, as by simply pulling on the back of the shoe and the outer flap b, and then the latter is secured in place by the buttons, the fia -fasteners and the goring thus coacting to raw or hold together the quarter-pieces and close the entire front of the shoe. While the goring is so located that it closes the portion of the shoe-opening above the overlapping flaps, it does not interfere with the fastening or unfastening of the ,shoe, this being accomplished as readily as if the shoe were an ordinary Oxford;

While the width of the goring will ordinarily be suflicient to permit the foot to be passed into the shoe with ease, yet in some instances it is desirable to provide a removable connection between one edge of the goring and the adjacent quarter-piece, so that the gorin may be unfastened when the shoe is to be placed on the foot or to be removed. In such instances, therefore, I provide the goring c with an edge piece 9, whichis stitched thereon, as shown in Fig. 4, and provide in said edge piece a series of sockets and in the adjacent portion of the outer quarter-piece a series of snap or ball-and-socket fasteners h h of ordinary form. By this means the goring can be fastened and unfastened readily, and it will be unnecessary to provide as wide a piece of goring as if both edges were vantages of either, as the shoe has the appearance of an Oxford in front and may be secured to the foot with as little or even less difficulty than an Oxford and yet is in reality a high shoe.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. A shoe comprising quarter-pieces extending from the vamp to the top, the front edges of said quarter-pieces, from the top to a point adjacent the upper end of the instep portion thereof, being approximately equidistant from the middle of the front of the shoe, an elastic goring connected to said equidistant edges to close the intervening space and having a free lower edge, flaps on the adjacent portions of the quarter-pieces between the goring and the vamp, each of said edge portions extending from the lower edge of the goring to the vamp and constituting the upper and side edges of the flaps, and means for fastening said flaps together substantially as described.

2. A shoe comprising quarter-pieces extending from the vamp to the top, the front edges of said quarter-pieces, from the top to a point adjacent the upper end of the instep portion thereof, being approximately equidistant from the middle of the front of the shoe, an elastic goring connected to said equidistant edges to close the intervening space, and having a free lower edge, flaps on the adj acent ortions of the quarter pieces be tween t e goring and the vamp, each of said edge portions extending from the lower edge of the goring to the vamp and constituting the upper and side edges of the flaps, and one of said flaps overlapping the lower end of the goring and the other flap, to close the opening between the uarter-pieces, the lower end of the goring an the vamp, and means for fastening said flaps together, substantially as described.

3. A shoe comprising quarter-pieces extending from the vamp to the top, the front edges of said quarter-pieces, from the top to a point adjacent the upper end of the instep portion thereof, being approximately equidistant from the middle of the front of the shoe, an elastic goring connected to said equidistant edges and closing the intervening space, said edge portion of one of the quarterpieces extending from the lower end of the goring toward the middle of the shoe, and downwardly to the vamp adjacent its middle, and the edge portion of the other quarterpiece having a transversely extending flap, the upper edge of which extends from a point above the lower edge of the goring approximately parallel thereto, to the opposite quarter-piece, said flap closing the opening between said quarter-pieces, the goring and the vamp, and means for fastening saiu flap to the opposite quarter-piece, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HEZEKIAH C. WELCH. 

